Dynamic aggregation for coexistence between wireless transceivers of a host device

ABSTRACT

A circuit includes a first wireless interface circuit that communicates packetized data to a first external device in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol. A second wireless interface circuit communicates packetized data to a second external device in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol. A plurality of signal lines communicate at least four lines of cooperation data between the first wireless interface circuit and the second wireless interface circuit, wherein the cooperation data relates to cooperate transceiving in a common frequency spectrum.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No.14/084,850, “DYNAMIC AGGREGATION FOR COEXISTENCE BETWEEN WIRELESSTRANSCEIVERS OF A HOST DEVICE”, filed Nov. 20, 2013, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,179,472 on Nov. 30, 2015, which claims priority pursuant to 35U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/904,104, entitled“DYNAMIC AGGREGATION FOR COEXISTENCE BETWEEN WIRELESS TRANSCEIVERS OF AHOST DEVICE”, filed Nov. 14, 2013, both of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S.Utility patent application for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This application relates generally to wireless communication systems andto cooperative transceiving by wireless transceivers of the same hostdevice.

2. Description of Related Art

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, etc., communicates directly orindirectly with other wireless communication devices. For directcommunications (also known as point-to-point communications), theparticipating wireless communication devices tune their receivers andtransmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the pluralityof radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system)and communicate over that channel or channels. For indirect wirelesscommunications, each wireless communication device communicates directlywith an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or anassociated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wirelessnetwork) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connectionbetween the wireless communication devices, the associated base stationsand/or associated access points communicate with each other directly,via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, viathe Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication systemin accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a frequency diagram that illustrates an exemplarycommunication in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication devicein accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representation of a method in accordance withvarious embodiments; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representation of a method in accordance withvarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication systemin accordance with various embodiments. A communication system 100includes a plurality of base stations and/or access points 112, 114 and116, a plurality of wireless communication devices 118, 120, 122, 124,126, 128, 130 and 132 and a network hardware component 134. The wirelesscommunication devices 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 may belaptop host computers 118 and 116, tablet hosts 120 and 130, personalcomputer hosts 124 and 132, cellular telephone hosts 122 and 128 and/orother wireless devices.

The base stations or access points 112, 114 and 116 are operably coupledto the network hardware 134 via local area network connections 136, 138and 140. The network hardware 134, which may be a router, switch,bridge, modem, system controller, etcetera, provides a wide area networkconnection 142 for the communication system 100. Each of the basestations or access points 112, 114 and 116 has an associated antenna orantenna array to communicate with the wireless communication devices inits area. Typically, the wireless communication devices register with aparticular base station or access point 112, 114 or 116 to receiveservices from the communication system 100. For direct connections(i.e., point-to-point communications), wireless communication devicescommunicate directly via an allocated channel.

Typically, base stations are used for cellular telephone systems andlike-type systems, while access points are used for in-home orin-building wireless local area networks. Regardless of the particulartype of communication system, each wireless communication deviceincludes a built-in transceiver and/or is coupled to a transceiver.

In an embodiment, one or more of the communication devices 118, 120,122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 operates over an additional wirelessnetwork, such as a voice and data cellular network that shares the samespectrum or otherwise could potentially interfere with wirelesscommunication between the base stations or access points 112, 114 and116 and the wireless communication devices 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128,130 and 132. For example, the base stations or access points 112, 114and 116 could operate in accordance with a wireless local area networkprotocol such as an 802.11 protocol and one or more wirelesscommunication devices 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 can becapable of cellular voice and data communications via a protocol such asEnhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), General Packet RadioService (GPRS), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speeduplink packet access (HSUPA and/or variations thereof) 3GPP (thirdgeneration partnership project), LTE (long term evolution), UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).

In an embodiment, a wireless communication device, such as wirelesscommunication device 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 or 132, includesa first transceiver that is configured to communicate packetized data tobase station of access point 112, 114 or 116 in accordance with a firstwireless communication protocol. In addition, this wirelesscommunication device includes a second wireless transceiver that isconfigured to communicate packetized data a different one of the basestation of access point 112, 114 or 116 in accordance with a secondwireless communication protocol. Further, the first wireless transceivercommunicates in a first operating band via transmissions that generateinterference with reception by the second wireless transceiver in asecond operating band and optionally vice versa. Consider further thatthe second wireless communication protocol supports frame aggregation inaccordance with an aggregation parameter. One example of operation ispresented in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a frequency diagram that illustrates an exemplarycommunication in accordance with various embodiments. A frequencydiagram 200 is shown. In this example, one wireless transceiver of thewireless communication device 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 or 132,is an 802.11n compliant WLAN transceiver and another wirelesstransceiver of the wireless communication device 118, 120, 122, 124,126, 128, 130 or 132 is a LTE compliant transceiver. The lower portionof ISM band is very near to LTE TDD Band 40. In LTE-WLAN coexistence,the LTE transmitter causes interference to WLAN receiver and WLANtransmitter causes interference to LTE receiver.

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments. In particular a timing diagramcontemplates possible contemporaneous operation between LTE and WLANtransceivers discussed in the example presented in FIG. 2. A basic LTEframe structure is presented, with 5 ms or 10 ms frame periodicity, andwith 10 sub-frames in each frame for communications between a BS (suchas BS 112, 114 or 116) and the wireless communication device 118, 120,122, 124, 126, 128, 130 or 132. Depending on the selected frameconfiguration, each sub-frame can be a DL sub-frame (D), UL sub-frame(U), or a special sub-frame (S). The special sub-frame consists of(DwPTS, Guard Period, and UpPTS). One possible LTE subframe structure325 is shown.

In addition, example WLAN communications are also presented between anAP (such as AP 112, 114 or 116) and the wireless communication device118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 or 132 and are separated intocommunication 330 from the AP and communications 340 to the AP. With LTETDD frames as illustrated, WLAN gets ˜2.3 ms of the LTE Tx and 2.7 ms ofthe LTE Rx duration. With the full frame aggregation level of 16,typically from MCS7-MCS4 rate transmit duration is ˜3.3 ms to ˜3.8 ms.So it is very likely that part of the WLAN Rx will fall under LTE_TX andpart of WLAN Tx will fall under LTE_RX as shown.

In particular, a first communication exchange begins with a normalcontention for data transfer (NC) 302 and request to send (RTS) 304 bythe access point and a clear to send (CTS) 306 by the wirelesscommunication device. In the example shown, frame aggregation has beenestablished and an aggregated MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) containing9 MAC protocol data units MPDUs 308 are sent by the AP to the wirelesscommunication device. However, the last two MPDUs of the A-MPDU 308 arenot correctly received and decoded due to concurrent LTE transmit, andthe block acknowledgement (BA) 310 only acknowledges the first 7 MPDUs.In the next group of communications, the wireless communications devicesends NC 312 and RTS 314 and receives a CTS 316 from the AP. Thewireless communication device attempts to send an A-MPDU having 4 MPDUs318, however, transmission of the last two are cancelled due toprotection of the LTE receive period. In this case, the BA 320 from theAP contains only the first two MPDUs 318. These failures will cause ratedrop and hence more duration for the next packets causing further ratedrop and ultimately could result in throughput halt.

While particular coexistence scenarios are presented in the examplespresented in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3, other coexistence issuescan exist in other scenarios and with other transceivers that operate inaccordance with other wireless communication protocols in shared oradjacent frequency bands or other interference conditions. Thediscussion above is meant to be illustrative of the type of issues thatcan be faced by such devices and not an exhaustive list of allcoexistence issues that can be addressed within the broad scope of thevarious embodiments

In an embodiment, the wireless communication device 118, 120, 122, 124,126, 128, 130 and 132 and AP (12, 14 or 116) operates to dynamicallycontrol the aggregation to enable more efficient coexistence and greaterthroughput in the presence of potential interference. The wirelesscommunication devices 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 includeone or more features of various embodiments addressing coexistenceissues that will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS.4-9 that follow.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication devicein accordance with various embodiments. A wireless communication deviceis presented, such as any of the wireless communications devices 118,120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132. The wireless communications deviceincludes the host module 400 and at least two wireless transceivers, 457and 459. The wireless transceivers 457 and 459 can be wireless interfacecircuits that are implemented separately or in a single integratedcircuit that is externally coupled to the host module 400, or part of acommon integrated circuit that includes host module 400. As illustrated,the host module 400 includes a processing module 450, memory 452, radiointerfaces 454 and 455, input interface 458 and output interface 456.The processing module 450 and memory 452 execute the correspondinginstructions that are typically performed by the host device. Forexample, for a cellular telephone host device, the processing module 450performs the corresponding communication functions in accordance with aparticular cellular telephone standard.

The radio interfaces 454 and 455 each communicate with a processingmodule 450 or 451 of the corresponding wireless transceiver 457 or 459.These processing modules include a media-specific access controlprotocol (MAC) layer module and other processing functionality tosupport the features and functions of the particular wireless protocolemployed by the wireless access device and further to perform additionalfunctions and features described herein. The processing modules 450 and451 may be implemented using a shared processing device, individualprocessing devices, or a plurality of processing devices.

The wireless transceivers 457 and 459 further include adigital-to-analog converter (DAC) 472, an analog to digital converter(ADC) 470, and a physical layer module (PHY) 474. The radio interfaces454 and 455 allow data to be received from and sent to external devices463 and 465 via the wireless transceivers 457 and 459. Each of theexternal devices includes its own wireless transceiver for communicatingwith the wireless interface device of the host device. For example, theexternal devices 463 and 465 can include a base station or access point112, 114 or 116.

For data received from one of the wireless transceivers 457 or 459(e.g., inbound data), the radio interface 454 or 455 provides the datato the processing module 450 for further processing and/or routing tothe output interface 456. The output interface 456 provides connectivityto an output display device such as a display, monitor, speakers, etcetera such that the received data may be displayed. The radiointerfaces 454 and 455 also provide data (outbound data) from theprocessing module 450 to the wireless transceivers 457 and 459. Theprocessing module 450 may receive the outbound data from an input devicesuch as a keyboard, keypad, microphone, etcetera via the input interface458 or generate the data itself. For data received via the inputinterface 458, the processing module 450 may perform a correspondinghost function on the data and/or route it to one of the wirelesstransceivers 457 or 459 via the corresponding radio interface 454 or455.

In operation, to mitigate interference between the two or more wirelesstransceivers 457 and 459 of the wireless communication device, theprocessing modules 450 and 451 of each wireless transceiver 457 and 459communicate with each other via a bus 453, to coordinate theiractivities. In an embodiment, the bus 453 is a high speed data bus orother interface that bidirectionally communicates cooperation databetween the wireless transceivers 457 and 459, wherein the cooperationdata relates to cooperative transceiving in a similar, and/or otherwiseinterfering or common frequency spectrum. For example, the cooperationdata can includes cooperative scheduling, and timing information oftransmit and receive periods, transceiver status, such as active,inactive, and sleep mode conditions as well as other status messagesthat can be used by the other transceiver to enhance coexistence and/orto avoid interference.

Consider an example where the wireless transceiver 457 is configurableto communicate packetized data to an external device 463 in accordancewith a first wireless communication protocol. Further, the wirelesstransceiver 459 is configurable to communicate packetized data to theexternal device 465 in accordance with a second wireless communicationprotocol wherein the first wireless transceiver communicates in a firstoperating band via transmissions that generate interference withreception by the second wireless transceiver in a second operating band.Consider further that the second wireless communication protocolsupports aggregation in accordance with an aggregation parameter.

Following the example presented in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3,wireless transceiver 459 is an 802.11n compliant WLAN transceiver andwireless transceiver 457 is a LTE transceiver. Cooperation data sharevia bus 453 can indicate to the wireless transceiver 459 that thewireless transceiver 457 is inactive, asleep or otherwise is notactively engaged in ongoing communications with external device 463 oris only engaged in minimal communications to preserve the link betweenthe wireless transceiver 457 and the external device 463. In this case,the wireless transceiver 459 is configurable to cooperatively establisha first block acknowledgment session with the external device 465 inaccordance with a high value of the aggregation parameter. The wirelesstransceiver 459 is further operable to determine, based for example onfurther cooperation data, when the wireless transceiver 457 beginsengaging in active communications with the external device 463 andresponds by cooperatively terminating the first block acknowledgmentsession and further by cooperatively establishing a second blockacknowledgment session with the external device 465 in accordance with alower value of the aggregation parameter—in particular a value thatpromotes shorter transmissions for enhanced coexistence and that reducethe possibility of interference.

In accordance with the example above, the aggregation parameter can bean aggregation window size, an indicator of the maximum number of MPDUsthat can be aggregated in a single A-MPDU, or the maximum number of MACservice data units (MSDUs) that can be aggregated in an aggregated MSDU(A-MSDU). Further other aggregation parameters in accordance with otherprotocols that indicate other frame aggregation levels, aggregated framesizes or durations, receive window sizes, or that otherwise indicate anamount of aggregation, can likewise be employed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver inaccordance with various embodiments. In particular, a wirelesstransceiver 457 or 459 is shown that includes digital receiverprocessing module 564, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 566, afiltering/attenuation module 568, an IF mixing down conversion stage570, a receiver filter 571, a low noise amplifier 572, a localoscillation module 574, memory 575, a digital transmitter processingmodule 576, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 578, a filtering/gainmodule 580, an IF mixing up conversion stage 582, a power amplifier 584,and a transmitter filter module 585. The wireless transceiver 457 or 459is coupled to the antenna section 461 that is coupled to the transmitand receive paths. The antenna section 461 can include separateantennas, a phased array, a shared antenna, a duplexer and/or an antennaswitch. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, theantenna(s) may be polarized, directional, and be physically separated toprovide a minimal amount of interference.

Returning to the discussion of FIG. 4, the digital receiver processingmodule 564 the digital transmitter processing module 576, and the memory575 may be included in the processing module 450 or 452 and executedigital receiver functions and digital transmitter functions inaccordance with a particular wireless communication standard. Thedigital receiver functions include, but are not limited to, digitalintermediate frequency to baseband conversion, demodulation,constellation demapping, decoding, and/or descrambling. The digitaltransmitter functions include, but are not limited to, scrambling,encoding, constellation mapping, modulation, and/or digital baseband toIF conversion. The digital receiver and transmitter processing modules564 and 576 may be implemented using a shared processing device,individual processing devices, or a plurality of processing devices.Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller,digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on operationalinstructions. The memory 575 may be a single memory device or aplurality of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read-onlymemory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory,static memory, dynamic memory, flash memory, and/or any device thatstores digital information. Note that when the processing module 564and/or 576 implements one or more of its functions via a state machine,analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memorystoring the corresponding operational instructions is embedded with thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In operation, the wireless interface device 457 or 459 receives outbounddata 594 from the radio interface 454 or 455. The digital transmitterprocessing module 576 processes the outbound data 594 in accordance witha particular wireless communication standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11including all current and future subsections, LTE or other wirelesscommunication protocol) to produce digital transmission formatted data596. The digital transmission formatted data 596 can be a digitalbase-band signal or a digital low IF signal, where the low IF typicallywill be in the frequency range of one hundred kilohertz to a fewmegahertz.

The digital-to-analog converter 578 converts the digital transmissionformatted data 596 from the digital domain to the analog domain. Thefiltering/gain module 580 filters and/or adjusts the gain of the analogsignal prior to providing it to the IF mixing stage 582. The IF mixingstage 582 directly converts the analog baseband or low IF signal into anRF signal based on a transmitter local oscillation 583 provided by localoscillation module 574. The power amplifier 584 amplifies the RF signalto produce outbound RF signal 598, which is filtered by the transmitterfilter module 585. The antenna section 461 transmits the outbound RFsignal 598 to a targeted device such as a base station, an access point,peripheral and/or another wireless communication device.

The wireless interface device 457 or 459 also receives an inbound RFsignal 588 via the antenna section 461, which was transmitted by a basestation, an access point, or another wireless communication device. Theantenna section 461 provides the inbound RF signal 588 to the receiverfilter module 571. The Rx filter 571 bandpass filters the inbound RFsignal 588. The Rx filter 571 provides the filtered RF signal to lownoise amplifier 572, which amplifies the signal 588 to produce anamplified inbound RF signal. The low noise amplifier 572 provides theamplified inbound RF signal to the IF mixing module 570, which directlyconverts the amplified inbound RF signal into an inbound low IF signalor baseband signal based on a receiver local oscillation 581 provided bylocal oscillation module 574. The down conversion module 570 providesthe inbound low IF signal or baseband signal to the filtering/gainmodule 568. The filtering/gain module 568 filters and/or gains theinbound low IF signal or the inbound baseband signal to produce afiltered inbound signal.

The analog-to-digital converter 566 converts the filtered inbound signalfrom the analog domain to the digital domain to produce digitalreception formatted data 590. The digital receiver processing module 564decodes, descrambles, demaps, and/or demodulates the digital receptionformatted data 590 to recapture inbound data 592 in accordance with theparticular wireless communication standard being implemented by wirelessinterface device. The recaptured inbound data 592 is provided to theradio interface 454 or 455.

While FIG. 5 might otherwise imply that the wireless interface devices457 and 459 are implemented with separate components, one or moremodules or components of these devices can be implemented with sharedcomponents that perform for both wireless interface devices. Forinstance, a single LNA 572 and RX filter module 571 can be used bywireless interface devices 457 and 459 to filter and amplify inbound RFsignals, a signal reference oscillator can be used in local oscillationmodules 574 of both wireless interface devices as the basis forgenerating separate local oscillation signals 581 and 583, etcetera.

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments. In particular a timing diagramis presented that provides further illustration of the example wherewireless transceiver 459 is an 802.11n compliant WLAN transceiver andwireless transceiver 457 is an LTE compliant transceiver. In particular,communications are shown between external device 465, such as an AP 112,114 or 116, and the wireless transceiver 459.

The timing diagram begins in a state where the wireless transceiver 459has either determined that the wireless transceiver 457 is not activelyengaged in communicating with the external device 463 or otherwise thatthe communication status of wireless communication device 457 isunknown. This determination can be made based on cooperation data sharedfrom the wireless transceiver 457 that there is no scheduledcommunication, that the device is dormant, asleep or otherwise in aperiod where no communications are occurring or where no communicationsare expected.

In the example shown, the wireless transceiver 459 and external device465 engage in communications during a BA setup period 610 tocooperatively establish a block acknowledgment session in accordancewith a first value of the aggregation parameter. Because the wirelesstransceiver 457 is not engaged in communication, this first value can bea high value relative to normal, the maximum value permitted (e.g. 16 orsome other value). The BA setup period 610 includes receiving an addblock acknowledgment (ADDBA) request from the external device 465 andsending an acknowledgement (ACK) and an ADDBA response that includes thefirst value of the aggregation parameter. This block acknowledgmentsession includes the traffic period 620 characterized by a quality ofservice QoS data MPDU and a series of aggregated MPDUs, the blockacknowledgement request (BAR) and block acknowledgment (BA).

When the wireless transceiver 459 determines, based for example oncooperation data, that the wireless transceiver 457 is not active, i.e.is engaged in communication with the external device 463, the wirelesstransceiver 459 acts to cooperatively terminate the block acknowledgmentsession, in response. BA change period 630 begins when the wirelesstransceiver 459 sends a delete block acknowledgment (DELBA) request tothe external device 465 and receives an acknowledgement from theexternal device 465. The BA change period 630 continues with thewireless transceiver 459 and external device 465 engaging incommunications to cooperatively establish a new block acknowledgmentsession in accordance with a second value of the aggregation parameter.Because the wireless transceiver 457 is now engaged in communication,this second value is set as lower than the first value (e.g. 4, 8 orsome other value) that corresponds to smaller frame aggregation sizes.The BA change period 630 includes receiving an add block acknowledgment(ADDBA) request from the external device 465 and sending anacknowledgement (ACK) and an ADDBA response that includes the new valueof the aggregation parameter.

In this fashion the wireless transceiver 459 operates to react to thepresence and absence of LTE activity and further the frame configurationof the LTE activity, to dynamically decide optimum aggregation levelsuch that both WLAN Transmit and Receive goes through within LTE_TX andLTE_RX window. At the time of WLAN association the wireless transceiver459 can negotiate the full supported aggregation window size. Once LTEthe TDD frame configuration is determined, the wireless transceiver 459can pick the best aggregation size, based on the particular LTE frameconfiguration and re-negotiate for the aggregation as shown.

It should be noted, that the above description treats the externaldevice 465 as the block acknowledgement originator and the wirelesstransceiver 459 as the block acknowledgement recipient. However, inother configurations the roles can be reversed.

In general, a TD-LTE Frame configuration may be completely random andcan come into existence during an ongoing WLAN Frame aggregation/blockacknowledgement session. When TD-LTE is detected, based on eithercooperation data indicating new transmissions, communications from otherdevices or other detection mechanisms, and the TD-LTE frameconfiguration is known, an existing WLAN block acknowledgement sessioncan be deleted using the DELBA Frame being sent from the (Block AckRecipient). Also the aggregation level of the recipient will be modifieddepending on TD-LTE frame configuration. A new Block Acknowledgementsession will be re-initiated by the Initiator using ADDBA Request/ADDBAResponse exchanges. Responder will now advertise the changed aggregationwindow size (aggregation level) in the ADDBA Response.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram that illustrates an exemplary communicationin accordance with various embodiments. In this example, wirelesstransceiver 457 is active (e.g. is on and is actively engaged incommunication or is scheduled to be actively engaged in communications)during times t, where t₁<t<t₃ and t₅<t. At each transition time, t₁, t₃,t₅, the wireless transceiver 459 cooperatively terminates its blockacknowledgment session and establishes a new block acknowledgmentsession to adapt to the change in activity status in the wirelesstransceiver 457. Between the times t₁<t<t₂, t₃<t<t₄ and t₅<t<t₆, the oldblock acknowledgment session is terminated and a new blockacknowledgment session is established with a new block acknowledgmentvalue.

Consider again the example where wireless transceiver 459 is an 802.11ncompliant WLAN transceiver and wireless transceiver 457 is an LTEcompliant transceiver. In this case, the timing diagram can representLTE DRX cycling. In periods t<t₁, and t₃<t<t₅ where the wirelesstransceiver 457 is inactive, a maximum block acknowledgment value can beemployed. Further, in periods t>t₅, and t₁<t<t₃ where the wirelesstransceiver 457 is active, a lower frame aggregation value can beemployed. In this fashion, for example, when a dynamic aggregationfriendly LTE DRX duty cycle is in use by LTE, the wireless transceiver459 can switch between an optimum aggregation size for periods of LTEactivity and a maximum aggregation size for periods of LTE inactivity.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representation of a method in accordance withvarious embodiments. In particular, a method is presented for use inconjunction with one or more functions and features described inconjunction with FIGS. 1-7. Step 800 includes establishing a first blockacknowledgment session between a first wireless transceiver of awireless communication device and an external device in accordance witha first value of an aggregation parameter when a second wirelesstransceiver of the wireless communication device is not engaged incommunication. Step 802 includes determining if the second wirelesstransceiver is engaged in communication. If not, the method continuesback to step 802. If so, the method proceeds to step 804 which includesterminating the first block acknowledgment session. Step 806 includesestablishing a second block acknowledgment session in accordance with asecond value of the aggregation parameter.

In an embodiment, the second wireless transceiver communicates in afirst operating band via transmissions that generate interference withreception by the first wireless transceiver in a second operating bandand further the second value of the aggregation parameter is less thanthe first value of the aggregation parameter. Step 800 can include:receiving a first add block acknowledgment request from the externaldevice; and sending to the external device a first add blockacknowledgment response that includes the first value of the aggregationparameter. Step 806 can include: receiving a second add blockacknowledgment request from the external device; and sending to theexternal device a second add block acknowledgment response that includesthe second value of the aggregation parameter. Step 804 can include:sending to the external device a delete block acknowledgment request;and receiving an acknowledgement from the external device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representation of a method in accordance withvarious embodiments. In particular, a method is presented for use inconjunction with one or more functions and features described inconjunction with FIGS. 1-7. Step 900 includes determining if the secondwireless transceiver is engaged in communication. If not, the methodproceeds to step 902 that includes establishing a block acknowledgmentsession between a first wireless transceiver of a wireless communicationdevice and an external device in accordance with a first value of anaggregation parameter. If so, the method proceeds to step 908 thatincludes establishing a block acknowledgment session between a firstwireless transceiver of a wireless communication device and an externaldevice in accordance with a second value of an aggregation parameter.

Step 904 includes determining if the second wireless transceiver isengaged in communication. If not, the method continues back to step 904.If so, the method proceeds to step 906 which includes terminating thefirst block acknowledgment and further to step 908 to set up a newsession with the second value of the aggregation parameter.

Step 910 includes determining if the second wireless transceiver isengaged in communication. If so, the method continues back to step 910.If not, the method proceeds to step 912 which includes terminating thefirst block acknowledgment and further to step 902 to set up a newsession with the first value of the aggregation parameter.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupledto”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/orindirect coupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an itemincludes, but is not limited to, a component, an element, a circuit,and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, the intervening item doesnot modify the information of a signal but may adjust its current level,voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items inthe same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, theterm “operable to” or “operably coupled to” indicates that an itemincludes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., toperform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and mayfurther include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As maystill further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includesdirect and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “module”,“processing circuit”, and/or “processing unit” (e.g., including variousmodules and/or circuitries such as may be operative, implemented, and/orfor encoding, for decoding, for baseband processing, etc.) may be asingle processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such aprocessing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may have anassociated memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be asingle memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embeddedcircuitry of the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/orprocessing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory (ROM),random access memory (RAM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that if the processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more thanone processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via astate machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the correspondingoperational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memoryelement may store, and the processing module, module, processingcircuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operationalinstructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/orfunctions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memorydevice or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

Various embodiments have been described above with the aid of methodsteps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claims. Further, the boundariesof these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined forconvenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined aslong as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed.Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily definedherein to illustrate certain significant functionality. To the extentused, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence could have beendefined otherwise and still perform the certain significantfunctionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional buildingblocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scopeand spirit of the claims. One of average skill in the art will alsorecognize that the functional building blocks, and other illustrativeblocks, modules and components herein, can be implemented as illustratedor by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits,processors executing appropriate software and the like or anycombination thereof.

A physical embodiment of an apparatus, an article of manufacture, amachine, and/or of a process that includes one or more embodiments mayinclude one or more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc.described with herein. Further, from figure to figure, the embodimentsmay incorporate the same or similarly named functions, steps, modules,etc. that may use the same or different reference numbers and, as such,the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similarfunctions, steps, modules, etc. or different ones.

The term “module” is used in the description of the various. A moduleincludes a functional block that is implemented via hardware to performone or module functions such as the processing of one or more inputsignals to produce one or more output signals. The hardware thatimplements the module may itself operate in conjunction software, and/orfirmware. As used herein, a module may contain one or more sub-modulesthat themselves are modules.

While particular combinations of various options, methods, functions andfeatures have been expressly described herein, other combinations ofthese options, methods, functions and features are likewise possible.The various embodiments are not limited by the particular examplesdisclosed herein and expressly incorporates these other combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication device comprising: afirst wireless transceiver configurable to communicate packetized datato a first external device in accordance with a mobile broadband accessprotocol; a second wireless transceiver configurable to communicatepacketized data to a second external device in accordance with awireless local area network protocol that supports block acknowledgmentin accordance with an aggregation parameter, wherein the second wirelesstransceiver is configurable to: cooperatively establish a first blockacknowledgment session in accordance with a first value of theaggregation parameter when the first wireless transceiver is not engagedin communicating with the first external device; cooperatively terminatethe first block acknowledgment session in response to determining thefirst wireless transceiver is engaged in communicating with the firstexternal device; and cooperatively establish a second blockacknowledgment session in accordance with a second value of theaggregation parameter when the first wireless transceiver is engaged incommunicating with the first external device; wherein the first wirelesstransceiver communicates in a first operating band via transmissionsthat generate interference with reception by the second wirelesstransceiver in a second operating band.
 2. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 1 wherein the second value of the aggregation parameteris less than the first value of the aggregation parameter.
 3. Thewireless communication device of claim 1 wherein the second wirelesstransceiver cooperatively establishes the first block acknowledgmentsession by: receiving an add block acknowledgment request from thesecond external device; and sending to the second external device an addblock acknowledgment response that includes the first value of theaggregation parameter.
 4. The wireless communication device of claim 1wherein the second wireless transceiver cooperatively establishes thesecond block acknowledgment session by: receiving an add blockacknowledgment request from the second external device; and sending tothe second external device an add block acknowledgment response thatincludes the second value of the aggregation parameter.
 5. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 1 wherein the second wireless transceivercooperatively terminates the first block acknowledgment session by:sending to the second external device a delete block acknowledgmentrequest; and receiving an acknowledgment from the second externaldevice.
 6. The wireless communication device of claim 1 wherein themobile broadband access protocol supports a power saving protocol thatcycles the first wireless transceiver between an on state to an offstate and wherein the first block acknowledgment session is synchronizedto the off state and the second block acknowledgment session issynchronized to the on state.
 7. The wireless communication device ofclaim 1 wherein the mobile broadband access protocol is a cellular voiceand data protocol.
 8. The wireless communication device of claim 1wherein the first external device is a base station and the secondexternal device is an access point.
 9. A method for use with a firstwireless transceiver that communicates in a first operating band viatransmissions that generate interference with reception by a secondwireless transceiver in a second operating band, the method comprising:communicating packetized data to a first external device via the firstwireless transceiver of a wireless communication device in accordancewith a mobile broadband access protocol; communicating packetized datato a second external device via the second wireless transceiver of thewireless communication device in accordance with a wireless local areanetwork protocol that supports block acknowledgment in accordance withan aggregation parameter; establishing a first block acknowledgmentsession between the second wireless transceiver and the second externaldevice in accordance with a first value of the aggregation parameterwhen the first wireless transceiver of the wireless communication deviceis not engaged in communication; terminating the first blockacknowledgment session in response to determining that the firstwireless transceiver is engaged in communication; and establishing asecond block acknowledgment session in accordance with a second value ofthe aggregation parameter when the first wireless transceiver is engagedin communication.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the second value ofthe aggregation parameter is less than the first value of theaggregation parameter.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein establishingthe first block acknowledgment session includes: receiving a first addblock acknowledgment request from the second external device; andsending to the second external device a first add block acknowledgmentresponse that includes the first value of the aggregation parameter. 12.The method of claim 11 wherein establishing the second blockacknowledgment session includes: receiving a second add blockacknowledgment request from the second external device; and sending tothe second external device a second add block acknowledgment responsethat includes the second value of the aggregation parameter.
 13. Themethod of claim 9 wherein terminating the first block acknowledgmentsession includes: sending to the second external device a delete blockacknowledgment request; and receiving an acknowledgment from the secondexternal device.
 14. A wireless communication device comprises: a firstwireless transceiver configurable to communicate packetized data to afirst external device in accordance with a mobile broadband accessprotocol; a second wireless transceiver configurable to communicatepacketized data to a second external device in accordance with awireless local area network protocol that supports block acknowledgmentin accordance with an aggregation parameter, wherein the second wirelesstransceiver is configurable to: establish a first block acknowledgmentsession in accordance with a first value of the aggregation parameterwhen the first wireless transceiver is not engaged in communicating withthe first external device; terminate the first block acknowledgmentsession when the first wireless transceiver is engaged in communicatingwith the first external device; and establish a second blockacknowledgment session in accordance with a second value of theaggregation parameter when the first wireless transceiver is engaged incommunicating with the first external device; wherein the second valueof the aggregation parameter is less than the first value of theaggregation parameter.
 15. The wireless communication device of claim 14wherein the second wireless transceiver establishes the first blockacknowledgment session by: receiving an add block acknowledgment requestfrom the second external device; and sending to the second externaldevice an add block acknowledgment response that includes the firstvalue of the aggregation parameter.
 16. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 14 wherein the second wireless transceiver establishesthe second block acknowledgment session by: receiving an add blockacknowledgment request from the second external device; and sending tothe second external device an add block acknowledgment response thatincludes the second value of the aggregation parameter.
 17. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14 wherein the second wireless transceiverterminates the first block acknowledgment session by: sending to thesecond external device a delete block acknowledgment request; andreceiving an acknowledgment from the second external device.
 18. Thewireless communication device of claim 14 wherein the mobile broadbandaccess protocol is a cellular voice.
 19. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 14 wherein the first external device is a base stationand the second external device is an access point.
 20. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14 wherein the mobile broadband accessprotocol supports a power saving protocol that cycles the first wirelesstransceiver between an on state to an off state and wherein the firstblock acknowledgment session is synchronized to the off state and thesecond block acknowledgment session is synchronized to the on state.